Invalid s chair



A. DUTNIEH.

INVALIDS CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, |919.

'1 3 l 7, 3 60 Patented Sept@ 30, 1919.

l nvm/nto:

(111:01 wz l ALBERT DUTMER, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

INVALIDS CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedSept. 30, 1919.

Application iled March 24, 1919. Serial No. 284,843.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT DUTMER, a citizen 'of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in 'Invalids Chairs, of which the following is a specification. l v i My invention relates to improvements in invalids chairs, and its objects are: first, to provide a means. whereby the occupant of the chairmay readily propel the chair either forwardly or backwardly without the ne-A cessity of touching the wheels with the hands; second, to provide a means lwhereby every movement of the actuating mechanism will be effective and positive; and, third, to provide a meanswherebythe movements of the operating parts of the actuating mechanism will be uniform and positive.

`I attain these objects by the .mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

which Figure 1 is a side elevation. of a chair showing how my invention isvapplied. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3

is an enlarged elevation of the actuating mechanism; Fig; 4 is a cross section of the actuating arm showing a groove therein vfor guiding the vertical movement of the actuating arm, and, Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of the actuating elements Y hand lever 3 at each sideof the chair frame 1. VOne end of veach of these levers is slidably connected with the sides ofthe frame by means of'` bolts b,orY other suitable device, secured to the ends of the levers and adapted to slide -freely in the grooves or slots 5 at each side of the chair. 'Ihe opposite end of each of these levers is pivotally connected with an actuating lever 11, asat le. The lower ends of the actuating levers are pivotally mounted upon the axletree or wheel bearing of the chair at 16 so their upper endsl may be madeto swing freely with'the hand levers.` 'Ihe upper ends of the actuating levers are offset and provided with one arm on each that eXtendsupwardly into positionto be madeto-engage the ends of the hand levers to actuate the actuating levers therefrom, and with a wing upon cach lever that passes over kthe upper rim of the lwheel and downwardly along the side of the wheel and the actuating rim 12, which is securely connectedwith the side of each wheel, and each rim is serrated or toothed upon its periphery to form locking receptacles for the actuating pawls 13. The pawls-13 are pivotally connected with theactuating levers 11, nearl their longitudinal centers, as indicated in Figs. `1 and 3 'and have vone end offset, as at 14, and arranged tov-be passed between the teeth on the rims 12 so that the forward or backward movement of the hand i the pawls 13 I pivot an arm 4at one end i to each of the hand levers 3, as at a, and leave the other ends of said arms free to oscillate vertically, as indicated by their solid and dotted lines in Figs. 1 andf3, I provide for preventing sidewise movement of the freelends of the arms 4'by forming slots 0 in the downwardly extending wings of the hand levers 3 and extending the ends of the arms 4 into these grooves, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. l

vVhile it would be possiblcto make adirect connection between the `arms 4 and the pawls 13 and brake shoes 10,` by 'providing an adjustable means, as a slot min'each pawlto provide for the reciprocating movef ment of the pin g, I greatly prefer. the construction shown in Fig. 3. In this con structionI have made offset arms 7 integral with the hand levers 3. To each of these offset armsI pivot a connecting link 8, as at d, the opposite ends of said links v'being pivotally connected with the links 6, as at f, and the latter are pivotally connected with the arms 4, as atc. I thenpivot one end of eachof a pair of links 17 to the links 8 at e and the other ends of the links 17 to the ends of the pawls 13 at g so that when the arms 4 are moved vertically the pawls will be actuated accordingly, As there is a Vpossibility that without means to prevent,

nected ends of the pawls 13 are elevated .to

force the ends of the pawls into engagement f with the teeth on the periphery Vofthe rim against the inner periphery of the rim and thus hold `rthe pawls securely in place until the' arms i are allowed-to again return into' their normal positions and release vthe rims from .the grip of the pawls and brake shoes. InV this construction l have eliminated the necessity of providing springs for returning the several elements'lntheactuatmg mech,-

anism into normalpositions.`

The pawls `l a'ie pivotally connected with the overhang'ing ends lof the vactuatingV levers llas at j, andthefree ends Vof the` pawls are connected vwith-the brake shoes 10 Y by. means ofili'nks 9, as at g and it, and with the actuating'links 8 zby means oflinlsl, as'at e and g. The dottedilines m indicate the eXtreme forward position-,ofthe Vhand levers 3, and the dotted lines 4K indicatethe eXtreme upward position of the arms. 4.' The' arm 4 .is connected 'with the link'S'f'by means ofthe link 6, asY at @fand f so that any vertical movementv offthe arm twill be transmitted to the vlink 8 and thence to the pawls and brake shoes'with' the results liereinbefore described. With these connections-complete an upward movement of the armsV 43 and a forward' 'movement of the hand levers 3 will cause the chair -to move forwardly, orwith the .several'elements in ythe positions4 indicated and a backward movement of the Yhand levers will cause the chair to. move baclrwardly. Y

The links 8` arepivotally mountedy uponV vthe armsand thelinks 17pi'votal`lymounted upon the links 8 near theirlongitudinal centers for the purposeI of, insuring an exact relative movement of the pawls .and brake shoes with .the movements Vof the armsjtV whether said arms are at their extreme forward position,'at their5v eXtreme backward positions or at any intermediatev point be- I do not desire to restrict .myself to the connecting'elements band 5 for securing the ends ofthe sliding levers 3, as there are several other well known equivalents lforv bringing about the same results, as, for instance, 5 might represent parallel rods mounted upon" the sides of the :frame 1, and lmight be eye-bolts made toslide over the rods, &c., without deviating from the struction4 of these' elements.

What I claim as new in theart, is: Y f1. Incombination with an invalids chair and its wheels, an annular serrated `rim mountedv concentrically with' each wheel upon the outer surface thereof, an actuating leverpivotally mounted. upon'the chair concentric with each wheel between the wheel and the chair, the upper end of saidV lever curved to pass over, and downwardly outpatentable con-Vv side of the wheel, a sliding hand lever mounted upon each side of the chair and pivotally A'connected with the upper end of l2, thevbrale shoe will lbe brought forcibly:

Vthe'corresponding actuating lever, a pawl pivotally mounted uponeach actuating' le- V verza vertically oscillative arm pivotally mounted upon each hand lever, and links connecting the oscillativeV arm with the pawls to actuate the pawls by the vertical movements of the arms.

2. In combination with'an invalidschair Y Vand its supporting wheels, al serrated annular rim mounted uponvthe outer surfaceof each wheel concentric therewitlnv actuating levers'between the wheels andthe'chair and concentric'with the'wheels, the outer ends of said levers extending abo-ve the wheels with an arm curvedV over Vand*extending'down'- soy wardly. alongzthe sideof each wheel, a pawl andbrake. shoe pivotally mounted upon'the downwardly. projecting end of each of' said levers, a hand lever slidingly mounted upon each side of the chair'ffra'meya {vertically oscillating armpivotallyg'mounted upon each Y hand lever, connecting-'elements between the oscillating armsand the 'pawls` and brake shoes whereby the pawls andf'brake shoes Y may propel the chair.

3., In combination with an invalids chair` be made to properly engage the rims toYY each of saidhand leversv slidingly connected Iwith the chair frame, a vertically oscill lating arm pivotally-connected at 'onezendf with each hand-lever, a pawl andbrake shoe of each actuating lever, and linksv and con'- necting rods so connected withv thelbrake shoes, the pawls and the'vertical'ly oscillatingarms that eachmovement of the hand Y leversandthe oscillatingarms will be trans- "pivotally, mounted upon the depending end mitted to the pawls and shoes causing them to act upon the rims simultaneously and transform their4 movements intov aV revoluble Vmovement'of the wheels.

vAi." In'` combination with an invalids chairVY and its supporting wheels, anannularrim i mountedwupon the f outer. surface ofeach Y,

wheel and .concentrie`therewith, an actuating lever pivotally mounted at one end concentric witheach wheel between the wheels and the chair frame, said levers 'extending upwardlyiandan arm on eachv passing around Vand downwardly'outside 'of each wheel,' a

vhand lever slidingly mounted at one end at each side of the chair frame, the other end of each of said hand levers pivotally conneoted with the upper end of its corresponding actuating lever, an arm projecting for- Wardly from the pivoted end of each hand lever, an oseillative arm pivotally mounted upon each hand lever, slots in the hand levers for guiding the free ends of the oscillating arms, a paWl and a brake shoe pivotally mounted upon the depending end of each actuating lever, a lever pivotally oonneoted, at one end, with the projecting arm I on each hand lever, links connecting the osoillating ends of the oscillating arms With said levers, and links connecting said levers with the paWls, and With the brake shoes, all so arranged that the movements of the hand levers and the oscillating arms may be transformed into a revolulole movement of the Wheels.

Signed at Grand Rapids, Michigan,

March 15, 1919.

ALBERT DUTMER.

Copies of this patent muy be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

